


Opponent,Rival, Ally, Partner (Choose One)

by eerian_sadow



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Decepticon shenanigans, M/M, Stalking, cause i don't dig the ship like i used to, eventual slash, mentions of damage, this might actually be abandoned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-06-11
Updated: 2008-06-27
Packaged: 2018-10-15 06:31:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10551650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: After encountering barricade on a street in tranquility, bumblebee finds himself torn between his duty as an autobot and the beliefs that his mentors have taught him to hold dear.





	1. Chapter 1

He limped back into Tranquility with a broken axle, burn marks and more dents and scrapes than he could remember ever having before in his life. He was fairly certain at least one of his tires was flat as well, but he hurt so much everywhere else that he wasn’t certain. He was also leaking some fluid; he didn’t know what it was, but he could feel it trickling down his undercarriage as he moved down the highway.

He was battered and damaged, but Barricade was very much alive.

It was a condition that could easily change, considering that the Autobots were headquartered in the small human settlement. The Decepticon was strangely less concerned with that than he was with being near his own kind. He didn’t particularly want the company of the Autobots, but he didn’t want to be completely alone, either. Barricade was also fairly certain that the Autobots—particularly Ironhide—would not want his company either.

He was, perhaps, hoping they would find him and spare him the indignity of a slow, painful offlining.

He had avoided direct confrontation with Optimus Prime when he faced Bonecrusher down on the highway, but he had not been able to avoid confrontation with the cars the humans were driving. He had taken some damage from unavoidable collisions, which has simply made it easier for Starscream to damage him when the Seeker caught him trying to escape the battle.

Despite being a traitorous slag heap himself, Starscream was not forgiving of anyone he thought was betraying Megatron’s cause. Barricade was immensely grateful for the distraction the humans in their fighter jets had caused.

Their deaths had allowed him to run away and survive the battle in Mission City. And because of that, he was able to return to Tranquility.

He rolled slowly—painfully—down the exit ramp, grateful for the lack of human traffic on the road. Barricade was fairly certain that another collision with a careless—or angry—driver would take him offline, possibly permanently. He had not run away from certain deactivation at the hands of the Autobots or Starscream to allow himself to be taken out by a simple organic.

He turned into the first parking area he could find. He would attract attention from the humans if he stayed too long, but he had to rest before he could find a more permanent hiding place.

Before the Autobots found him.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was quiet, and had been since the deactivated Decepticons had been dropped into the ocean. It was far too easy to settle into the peace surrounding the city of Tranquility. Far too easy to forget that there were still Decepticons at large in the galaxy that could be coming to invade Earth at any moment.

Far, far too easy to forget that there had been at least one Decepticon survivor of the battle in Mission City.

Ironhide had argued a bit when Bumblebee had asked to stay with Sam, but Optimus Prime never took back his initial permission for him to stay. He had used the affection he had developed for the human as his excuse, but he and Optimus both knew that Sam would be an immediate target if the other Decepticons decided to invade Earth.

They would not take Megatron’s deactivation lightly.

Bumblebee moved into the Witwicky’s garage with minimal fuss—aside from explaining who and what he and the other Autobots were. Sam’s mother had been a bit flattered that he had wanted to protect her son; his father had been skeptical.

Ron Witwicky had nothing to complain about after Bumblebee stopped the first burglar.

The Autobot scout settled himself under the carport with a rush of air from his intakes that sounded like a human’s sigh. Guarding Sam—and by extension Sam’s family—required him to stay in his alt mode for longer stretches of time than he liked. He understood the need to stay as inconspicuous as possible, but he liked to talk to his friend and cars couldn’t talk back to their owners.

Sam, and Mikaela, made up for this by taking him on long weekend drives to out of the way places where he could transform and explore the countryside to his spark’s content.

He enjoyed the peaceful life he shared with his humans, but Bumblebee knew it was only a matter of time before the Decepticons came back. Starscream would want his vengeance.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He spent most of his nights prowling the small city, doing his best to keep out of the way of the humans or the Autobots who would recognize him. His damage wasn’t entirely repaired; his self repair systems were not up to that, but he was well enough to be mobile.

He had a moment to regret that when he caught sight of the bright yellow Camaro coming at him from the opposite direction. He recognized the human passengers inside as they passed each other, and he was certain that the human female recognized him as well.

Barricade kept driving as Bumblebee turned around with a screech. The Autobot might leave him alone if he pretended he had failed to identify them.

The Decepticon couldn’t hide his relief when Bumblebee didn’t follow.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Oh, God,” Mikaela said as the battered police cruiser passed them. “That’s Barricade!”

“What!?” Sam’s surprised exclamation was accompanied by squealing tires as Bumblebee spun around to look at the other vehicle.

“It is…” The Autobot couldn’t hide the touch of awe in his voice. He had been almost certain that his rival had been deactivated during Optimus’ fight with Bonecrusher on the overpass in Mission City.

“Bee, what do we do?” Sam’s tone was urgent, bordering on panicked.

“Nothing.”

Bumblebee could feel the two sets of eyes that locked onto the radio console he had used as his voice for far too long. “What?” Mikaela finally asked.

“We let him go.” Bumblebee knew he wasn’t making sense, and he wasn’t sure why he wanted to leave the Decepticon to roam the city. “He’s too damaged to be a threat.”

“He didn’t try to attack us,” Sam added hesitantly. The boy’s pulse was racing and his voice was unsteady, but he was trying to trust him. The Autobot scout wasn’t sure if that made him feel incredibly good, or if it worried him out of his processor. “Are you going to tell Optimus?”

“I think I have to,” Bee replied. “But I think you’ll be safe. Barricade would have attacked us now if he was going to attack at all.”

“I want to stay at your place tonight, Sam.” Mikaela’s tone of voice suggested she was a terrified as her boyfriend, but she hid the subtle physical signals better.

Knowing her fear was his fault, Bumblebee said, “I’ll keep you safe, Mikaela.”

“I know, Bee. But I think I want to go home now.”

“Me too,” Sam added. “I really don’t feel like driving anymore.”

The Autobot didn’t reply as he turned and drove back to Sam’s house. His mind was occupied enough that he didn’t want to drive anymore either.  



	2. untitled (for the time being)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after encountering barricade on a street in tranquility, bumblebee finds himself torn between his duty as an autobot and the beliefs that his mentors have taught him to hold dear.

Barricade spent the next three days in hiding, waiting for the Autobots to descend on him and deactivate him. When they didn’t come, he left his base to search for energy sources. Human fuel sources could only sustain him for a few days at most and he wanted to survive more than he wanted to continue to hide.

Better to die in combat than hiding in a hole.

He was cautious when he left his base, leaving at night when the Autobots had proven themselves less likely to be around. Barricade also foraged far from the base, making it harder to locate him by accident. He stayed out only long enough to fill his fuel tanks again, and then returned to his bolt hole.

The was not the way of life the Decepticon would ever consider acceptable, but he knew that he was still in no shape to take on a single Autobot; against all four of them he would stand no chance at all. He would wait and heal, and forage when necessary. When he was fully operational again, he would feel secure enough to leave the base and prowl the streets of Tranquility again.

He could be patient that long.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Bumblebee reported Barricade’s presence to Optimus Prime, but as he issued his report he realized that he was doing so more to make Sam and Mikaela feel better than out of fear of any threat because of the Decepticon’s presence. He was not foolish enough to think that Barricade’s damage was the only thing that had kept him from attacking them three nights ago, but the fact that he hadn’t attacked at all spoke volumes.

Bumblebee had beaten him badly, and Barricade was not the type to simply let that sort of thing go.

Ironhide had been parked at the end of the block for the last three days in case the Decepticon decided to come to the Witwicky house and attack. Bumblebee thought this precaution was unnecessary; he had protected Sam from Barricade in the past and he would continue to protect him until either he or Sam went offline. But guarding the Witwickys gave the old warrior something to do that made him feel useful, so no one argued.

But really, three days was long enough that _something_ would have happened if it was going to. _"Hide, I don’t think he’s coming."_

He could hear the topkick’s engine rumble from a few houses away before Ironhide replied. _"We didn’t think that the Decepticons were going to attack Iacon, either. You know how that turned out."_

Bumblebee wished he could sigh the way Mikaela did when Sam was being particularly stubborn. _"I’m just saying that maybe both of us staying here is overkill."_

Ironhide’s response was mumbled, even over the comlink, but Bumblebee knew he had lost this argument. The older mech wouldn’t leave unless Optimus ordered him to. The scout found himself disappointed with this knowledge.

With a start, he realized he _wanted_ to see Barricade again. That was a troubling thought.

Silently, he rolled into his space under the carport to think about that revelation.  



End file.
